Following our victory over Nevada Saturday night, I fell into a YouTube black hole and came upon this old classic I learned in Cub Scouts. Oddly prophetic for our upcoming match-up.
While generally it’s sung in fun, there’s an important lesson in this old World War 2 classic. It is a lesson that you could do virtually everything right and doom yourself through simple mistakes. The doomed trooper ensures he’s ready, and checks all the things he should... except that he neglects to secure his static line. Mistake one. Still, the mistake itself isn’t necessarily the end. In a panic, the trooper releases his reserve chute... in a bad position. The compounded mistakes seal his fate, and falls to his death.
Vanderbilt doesn’t have to be perfect Saturday, they have to be near perfect. When they goof, they must keep their heads. While any small error could be fatal, they’re certainly fatal when you make them worse.
I see this match-up as on the level of our match-ups against UGA. This is a tough order game, but it’s by no means hopeless. It could be a slaughter if Vanderbilt gets out of their game, but if they all do their jobs, they stand a chance.